Today's News

The Library Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the White Rock Branch Library.

Parks and Rec

The Parks and Recreation Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Larry Walkup Aquatic Center.

Business grants

Learn about various grant opportunities available and if they are a fit for your business from 2-4 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Small Business Center, 190 Central Park Square. Call Heather Campbell at 661-4803 for more information.

Teen Center update

An update about the Teen Center will be at 5:30 p.m. today in council chambers.

Meet Me at Mesa

Meet Me at the Mesa begins at 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Mesa Library. The program makes the arts accessible to people with dementia.

Los Alamos Fire Chief Troy Hughes introduced Capt. Joseph Candelaria to council Tuesday by highlighting one of his most significant accomplishments.

“I get to come forward tonight with really good news,” Hughes said. “We get to celebrate some of the success we’ve had through building a great partnership with the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos. The partnership has been built through a Fire Science program that is really a great step for our future here in the Los Alamos Fire Department.”

Council recognized Candelaria with a Leadership Coin for his efforts to create an associate’s degree in fire science at UNM-LA. Candelaria is now UNM-LA’s Fire Science program manager as well as a captain paramedic with LAFD.

Candelaria began working on development of the program based on the National Fire Academy’s Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education curriculum two years ago. During his presentation, Candelaria downplayed his own role in establishing the program.

“The Los Alamos County Fire Department is proud to be regarded as one of the highest trained and equipped fire departments in the country,” Candelaria said.

Don’t worry Barranca Elementary School parents, Los Alamos Board of Education President Kevin Honnell is still in your corner.

However, due to redistricting, Honnell has been moved from 4 into the same district as Board member David Foster, according to the new plan.

“What we wanted in this is that we wanted every district to have an elementary school,” LAPS Superintendent Gene Schmidt said, adding that one of the outcomes of the one elementary school, one district plan is that Honnell will now be sharing space with District 4 representative David Foster.

“One of the things that happens in this new model is that Dave and Kevin’s house placements are now in District 5, but Kevin will still continue to represent his District 4,” Schmidt said.

Honnell wasn’t at the meeting to comment on the changes, but Foster was. He said the change was fine with him.

“I don’t see this as a problem, it’s two years out and I think everything has worked out just fine,” Foster said. “When we get elected, we basically focus on the entire school district.”

More details emerged Wednesday afternoon concerning the termination of the Chromium Agreement between the New Mexico Environment Department and the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Department of Energy.

NMED concluded that the terms of the Chromium Settlement Agreement were met as follows:
• Payment of a civil penalty in the amount of $251,870.00 on July 13, 2007;
• Modification of the March 1, 2005 Order was modified on June 28, 2008 to add a section requiring notification of detections and increases in contaminant concentrations in groundwater and that this modification would be a Class 2 modification if made under the Permit;
• Creation of a publicly accessible database containing information related to the presence and concentrations of contaminants in environmental media; “The termination of the Chromium Settlement will provide continued transparency by allowing public access to a database on reporting requirements stipulated by the Consent Order,” said NMED Secretary Dave Martin.

“The information provided in the database is important for the public to access in the long-term.”

The Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, located on Hwy. 281, just east of Las Vegas, will be open each Sunday in November from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. for the Traditional Annual Fall Flight Festival featuring a 4-1/2 mile self-guided auto drive.
This tour allows visitors to enjoy the short-grass prairie in areas of the refuge that are not open for general public use the rest of the year.
Visitors can observe directly the impact of current drought conditions on ponds, lakes, marshes and fields. With the lack of water, migrating waterfowl will be limited, but numerous grassland birds such as mountain bluebirds, meadowlarks, horned larks and sparrows along with various wintering raptors will be visible.
Volunteer roving naturalists will be on hand with spotting scopes to help visitors identify birds. No walking is required. Attendees are encouraged to bird from or close to their vehicle, so birds will not be disturbed. All events at the refuge are free.
Special Wildlife Kids Crafts, featuring a different themed craft are held each Sunday between 1-3 p.m.
Interpretive programs are repeated at noon and 1:30 p.m. each Sunday:
Sunday: “Live Raptor Presentation” By Santa Fe Raptor Center. This program is ideal for children.

Pajarito Environmental Education Center will offer the first in a series of three classes on travel and nature journaling taught by Terry Foxx, Katy Korkos and Fairley Barnes Nov. 6.
The class is on three consecutive Tuesdays from 6-8 p.m., and costs $40 for PEEC members and $50 for all others.
This price includes all supplies and materials for the three sessions.
Many are looking for ways to connect with the world through travel or through observing nature. When traveling, people pack their suitcase with a notebook intended to be a journal.
The first one or two nights, they are judicious in writing notes, then life overtakes them and they come home with a blank notebook. Or they go on a walk, something catches their eye and they want to remember. But they say to themselves, “I’m not an artist” and they tuck the experience away in memory that soon fades.
But there is a more permanent way to record explorations. Korkos, Barnes and Foxx will share ways to record observations, feelings,and experiences in a variety of journal types that are simple, easily done and don’t require a mastery of art.
For more information and to register, visit PajaritoEEC.org, call 662-0460, or email programs@PajaritoEEC.org.

The internationally-recognized, award-winning book, “True Brit — Beatrice, 1940,” written by Santa Fe author Rosemary Zibart and illustrated by Santa Fe artist George Lawrence, has been named a finalist in two categories of the New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards.
“True Brit” is a finalist in the Young Adult and Historical Fiction categories. The book has previously received a Gold Award for Historical Fiction from Mom’s Choice Awards and was a finalist in the 2011 London Book Awards.
In “True Brit,” a spoiled English girl, Beatrice Sims, comes to Santa Fe to live with practical, hard-working nurse Clementine Pope.
At first, the 12-year-old hates the dusty little town. But soon Beatrice makes friends with goofy Arabella, develops a crush on handsome Esteban and aids Ana, a shy Indian girl. First accused of being “faceta” — stuck up, Beatrice learns to change tires, ride wild ponies and helps Clem rescue a sick baby on an Indian pueblo.
The inspiration for the story came 15 years ago when Zibart was reading the New Mexican newspaper. She noticed in the “50 Years Ago Today” column, a snippet of news about four English girls arriving in Santa Fe.